02 AUGUST 2015

The State of the Heavyweights: Top Three in Action, Part III

Klitschko towers over Mormeck

By Mikko Salo: The last of the three top-notch heavyweight weekends is here, with the two previous ones providing us with the kind of action the fans want to see from this improving marquee division of boxing. The two spirited contests with all-out attitude have not let us down.

Alexander Povetkin (24-0 16 KO) and Marco Huck (34-2, 25 KO) showed us why it is allways intriguing to watch two evenly matched gladiators with heavyweight power duke it out. Povetkin was justifiably victorious, but the bout was closer than a lot of people thought (this writer scored the it a 114-114 draw). Marco Huck proved that he can hang with the current Ring #2 heavyweight contender and Povetkin proved that even though his conditioning was clearly lacking, he had the heart to overcome some troubling times, especially in the 4th and 7th rounds and in the end of the bout. One more round of applause for both of them, for fight fans` sake I hope we will see these guys step in the ring to settle matters again in the near future.

The last match-up of this three-weekend heavyweight fest is the least interesting to most of us. The Ring Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO) will face the former Cruiserweight Champion Jean Marc Mormeck (36-4, 22 KO). Although Mormeck was the Cruiser King back in 2007, his heavyweight resumé pales in comparison with two other former Cruiser Champs David Haye and Tomasz Adamek who have tried unsuccesfully dethroning the Klitschkos.

I have seldom seen a Championship match-up that really has everything so one-sidedly in the Champ`s favour. You name it: size, reach, power, age, mobility, ring rust… everything favours Wlad to comfortably handle the Frenchman.

Wlad has naturally taken some heat for the complete mismatch and the media interest has been pretty lame. But maybe we should give The Champ a pass for just this once. He did claim that he offered the fight to several top 10 contenders, among them Alexander Povetkin, but there was little interest in the other end. The Klitschko Brothers have also never been ones to duck any top heavyweight contender. And even if the match-up is one of the worst in recent times, I don`t think it is close to being the worst the previous Heavyweight Champs have offered us during the last decades. Remember Ali-Coopman or Ali-Wepner? Those ”challengers” were nowhere close to even an aging Mormeck`s caliber. Or how about Holmes-Frazier or Holmes-Rodriguez? Klitschko-Mormeck is an utter mismatch, but Mormeck as the former Cruiserweight Champion, (although way past his sell-by date and with no accolades as a heavyweight) has at least in the past shown elite talent in the ring, just not as a heavyweight.

Why should we then watch the debacle tomorrow night? I for one hope that Wlad ”the Destroyer” shows up in Düsseldorf. The 50 000 that have invested their money to see the show live are there to see a destructive knock-out victory in the same manner Wlad leveled Calvin Brock or Ray Austin (with Austin he didn`t even have to throw a right hand). The pressure is on The Champ because nothing less than a convincing thrashing of the former Cruiser King will do. So come on Wlad, give us some fireworks!